Who needs you?
by littlevague
Summary: Puar gets sick of Yamcha and decides to find some friends of her own. (Holy fineliner Batman! It's an update!)
1. Drunk

Red numbers flashed from the alarm clock, piercing the darkness of the living room. 01:34. Illuminated by it's faint glow, a small, blue cat sat curled in an overstuffed armchair, watching the door. It's eyes shone with the same intensity as one would expect from a tiger stalking it's prey. There was a scratching from the other side of the door.  
  
Someone is having difficulty getting the key in the lock. The cat's face contorted into a strangely smug expression. He's probably drunk again. It figures.  
  
The door finally creaked open and a figure stumbled into the room. Dressed in a blue and orange gi, the man slowly made his way to the bedroom, leaning on the furniture for support. It wasn't until he reached the doorway that he realised that the room was occupied.  
  
"Hey Puar" his speech was slurred with alcohol. "What you doin up this *hic*... late?"  
  
"Early Yamcha. Early. It's Saturday."  
  
"Well wadeya know" he squinted at the clock, "Anyways, see ya tomorrow, today, whatever."  
  
With that he closed the bedroom door, leaving Puar to sleep on the armchair.  
  
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Sunlight filtered through the kitchen curtains and onto the bench where Puar was eating a bowl of cereal. She was still angry with Yamcha and took it out on the sultanas, flicking them into the garbage disposal.  
  
I can't believe he forgot again! All I ask is that he remembers my birthday once. Just once. He even promised to spend Friday night with me to celebrate but no. He just conveniently forgets about me and go out drinking.  
  
Just then Yamcha decided to make his entrance. Clutching his head, he reached into the back of one of the cupboards and pulled out a bottle of whisky. Taking a swig, he puled a chair over to where Puar was perched.  
  
"Nothing like the hair of the dog eh Puar."  
  
"Do you know what day it was yesterday Yamcha?" Puar's tail twitched irritably.  
  
"Well duh. It was Friday."  
  
Puar clenched her teeth. "And what was important about Friday?"  
  
"I dunno. Is this a trick question?" He scratched the back of his head, a trait picked up from Goku.  
  
"It was my birthday and you promised that this year you would spent my birthday with me!"  
  
"Whoah, settle down Puar!" he lent forward in his chair, "It's not like I forget every year."  
  
"Correction, you do forget every year." She glared at the extensively scarred man.  
  
"Well it's not easy remembering everyone's birthdays when you have as many friends as me."  
  
"And what's that supposed to mean?"  
  
Well I thought it was quite obvious. You. Have. No. Friends. Apart. From. Me."  
  
"That's a lie! I have heaps of friends!"  
  
"Then name them."  
  
"There's Tien, Gohan, Dende, Master Roshi, 18, Bulma, Kri-"  
  
"Cut the crap Puar. I mean your friends, as in people who visit you. Do you have any friends that I don't know about?" Yamcha reclined back into his seat.  
  
Puar's face fell. She knew the answer to that. "No."  
  
"So next time you come crying to me about something I forgot, I want you to think about that."  
  
With that, Yamcha took one last swig of the whiskey, put it back in the cupboard and walked out of the apartment. Puar sat on the bench for another hour or so, mulling over things. Suddenly she glared at the door from which Yamcha left and whispered in a quiet yet determined voice,  
  
"I'm going to go get friends of my own." 


	2. Missing

Disclaimer: (Yeah, I should of put this on the first chapter but, whatever.) Do you really think I own anything of value? The money from my after school job goes to stuff like food and clothing so I can't afford anything that's even slightly valuable. Seriously, when robbers come to steal my stuff they leave their loot behind because they feel sorry for me. Oh yeah, a Japanese man who's name I can't spell owns DBZ but if there's anything you really don't recognise in the story it's probably mine. (my precioussss) So there. Leave me alone.  
  
Okay, here's the deal. This takes place after the whole Buu thing but as I haven't seen DBZ in quite some time so it may be a little AU. Goku's alive and Gohan is still in High school. Oh, and I'm not really paying any attention to DBGT because frankly, I know nothing about it.  
  
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The spiky-haired man stalked down the main hallway of the apartment building, a permanent scowl etched into his face. Although it was tastefully decorated, with potted plants settled in wall alcoves, the hallway retained a sense of being too clean, as if a tidal wave of cleaning products were constantly being sent through the labyrinth of corridors. The harsh lighting supplied by florescent tubing flickered, irritating the eyes. The man wrinkled his nose slightly, the chemical fumes seemed unbelievably strong and were giving him a headache. The prince of all sayians was doing an errand for a human banshee, and was not pleased. The only reason he agreed to go in the end was just so he could irritate the baseball-playing baka but now he was deeply regretting his decision. With a brown-paper wrapped box under one arm, he passed door after door before arriving at his location. Apartment 96. Home of Yamcha and Puar.  
  
"Open up you baka." Vegeta mumbled under his breathe as he attempted to tap lightly on the door. With his sayian strength it ended up being quite a loud thump.  
  
The navy blue door which was now sporting a sizeable dent eased open and a two bloodshot eyes peered out at Vegeta from the darkened interior.  
  
"Hey pizza dude, Here's your cash." An extremely intoxicated Yamcha grabbed at Vegeta, shoving a wad of cash in his direction. "Where's the pizza?"  
  
"I am not the 'pizza dude' you insolent baka and you're drunk." Yet again, Vegeta wrinkled his delicate nose as Yamcha reeked of whiskey.  
  
"Vegeta? Oh, sorry man. Didn't recognise you out of your training gear. Come on in." He stumbled back into the darkness of the apartment, waving Vegeta in with a drunken gesture.  
  
Vegeta was currently dressed in black. Black baggy jeans, black sneakers and a black tee-shirt. The clothing had been bought by Bulma to replace the pink badman shirt and the yellow pants which had mysteriously disappeared. The shirt stated in large white letters, 'Warning: Permanently Pissed.' Oddly enough, this new set of clothing was Vegeta's favourite, apart from his training gear.  
  
Vegeta followed the scarred man into the dark room, noting that it didn't look like it had been cleaned for days. "Where's Puar?" he asked as he carefully avoided stepping in some miscellaneous substance on the carpeted floor.  
  
Yamcha froze on his way to the kitchen, then continued on his way. "How the hell am I supposed to know?"  
  
Vegeta was taken back by that reply. How the hell should he know? It should be how the hell shouldn't he know. That furball was like a second shadow to Yamcha.  
  
"When's the last time you saw her?"  
  
"Dunno. Saturday maybe. Or Sunday. I don't remember." Yamcha turned to look at Vegeta, "What day is it today?" He raised a nearly empty bottle of whiskey from a coffee table and took a swig. "Does it matter?" He started to giggle.  
  
Vegeta gave Yamcha a hard look, then left the apartment, taking the package with him. As soon as he was outside he rocketed into the sky, heading back to Capsule Corps.  
  
Damn drunken idiot. Puar's been gone nearly a week and he didn't tell anyone! Though I can see why Fuzzball left. But she could of been taken. Why the hell do I care? Vegeta snarled at himself.  
  
Because it's impossible not to like Fuzzball. She's kinda like Kakarot but smarter.  
  
Again Vegeta snarled at the fact that, even if he could hide it from everyone else, he didn't really hate...Goku....but could put up with him. Sort of like a very annoying sibling. The only people he really hated were that afro-headed freak and Yamcha.  
  
And now I have a brand new reason to hate that baka. The woman will take care of it though. I won't allow people to know that I actually give a damn whether Fuzzball is okay. It would spoil my reputation.  
  
Then he sank down to the roof of the CC building and made his way to the lab to find the woman. 


	3. Ki signatures

Disclaimer: I am not a Japanese man who's name I cannot spell, therefore I cannot possibly own DBZ or any of the DBZ characters.  
  
IMPORTANT: I don't know if the ki signature theory is correct or not but it works in with my plot so it's staying.  
  
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"General Cadd! The subject is back again!" The stout man who bore a striking resemblance to a brick outhouse looked across the small, brightly lit room to Private Bury who practically had his face pressed against the security monitor. "Are you sure? Last time it was just a cat." General Cadd had a hatred of cats which stemmed back to a rather disturbing childhood experience so he was not too pleased to have to deal with anything that resembled a feline in any way. "I'm sure Sir. It's floating about a metre above the ground."  
  
General Cadd had been the commanding officer at the secret military base, hidden deep below the slums of Satan City for some time now. The base was known as the Closet and a lot of sensitive information was kept there. The General was completely dedicated to his job, keeping said base a secret, and he did not appreciate any security breaches. The small floating cat- thing was definitely a security breach.  
  
"Right." He picked up a black phone set into one of the walls and began speaking immediately. " I want all available officers to the surface. The subject has returned. I want it captured alive." He soon started watching the monitors again, watching the cat-thing's progress.  
  
!@#$%^&!@#$%^&!@#$%^&  
  
Puar was tired. She had been roaming around Satan City for days looking for someone to be her new best friend. Returning to the apartment, and to Yamcha, was not an option as her pride would not allow it. It is a little known fact that Puar's pride can rival Vegeta's at times. She floated down a dirty, gloomy street, deserted after the sun set and rain filled clouds began to rule the sky.  
  
I could always shapeshift into human form and find some friends that way.  
  
She considered this as she slipped through a hole in a tall wooden fence which seemed to be supported only by the layers of graffiti that decorated its surface. A compound of concrete buildings, emptied and left to crumble long ago, loomed ahead.  
  
Yeah, but they wouldn't be your friends now would they. They would be friends with your human form.  
  
Floating past the weathered remains of the once impressive building she came to a old tree, what she believed to be the only other living thing in the compound. The interior of the tree was hollow and she found that it made an excellent place to sleep. She had been returning here every night since she had left Yamcha. So far all the people she had met had run away, beleiving her to be some kind of demon.  
  
It doesn't matter anyway. I don't have enough energy to transform into anything. I'm too tired. And too hungry. What the hell was the last thing I ate?  
  
Puar curled up into a small blue ball as the heavens opened up and cast a thousand raindrops on the city below. Thankfully the hollow tree was waterproof. It was not fun when she got wet. She screwed up her tiny nose, a very Vegeta-like move. Just the thought of being wet was unpleasant. Puar knew that she smelt bad if she got drenched. It was like a wet dog smell but about ten times worse. She shuddered, remembering how Yamcha would tease her about it. He meant it in all good fun but it still hurt.  
  
It's not my damn fault that I have fur. And it's no picnic being the smelly one either.  
  
Deep in her misery, she didn't notice the men in army uniforms slowly closing in.  
  
*&^%$#@*&^%$#@*&^%$#@  
  
"Onna! Where are you woman?" Vegeta stalked into the lab bringing the package with him.  
  
"I'm over here!" Bulma's voice rang out from inside what seemed to be a giant oven. "Did Puar like the present? I know it was late but you know, better late than never."  
  
"Fuzzball wasn't there." The prince sat down on a stainless steel stool next to the giant oven, putting the package on the floor.  
  
Bulma's head popped out, grease marks decorated her face. "I wonder where those two went?"  
  
"Yamcha was still there." Vegeta pulled on his left earlobe. It was the only hint to what he was thinking. Bulma worked out long ago that he only did that when he was worried about something. Vegeta hated having people know his weaknesses so she kept this bit of information to herself.  
  
"Why didn't you leave the present with him?" The blue-haired genius eyed the package.  
  
"He was drunk." His permanent frown lines deepened. "He said that Puar had been gone about a week."  
  
"What!" Bulma screeched, "Where did she go? Why isn't Yamcha out looking for her?" She waved a screwdriver above her head in anger. "That idiot!"  
  
"I told you before, he is drunk. Judging by the state of their living quarters he has been for some time. Foolish human."  
  
Suddenly Bulma calmed down, lowering the screwdriver back to whatever she had been doing previously. " Well it not a problem. You can just look for her Ki signature for me." She gave Vegeta a look that gave no room for arguments.  
  
The sayain sighed inwardly. How could someone so smart be so.....dense. "Puar is a shape-shifter. I can't trace her Ki signature."  
  
"What?" For once Bulma was completely confused. "I've asked you to look for her signal before and you've always been able to find her."  
  
"I can never find Fuzzball's Ki. I just traced the human baka. That was how everyone found her."  
  
"Why can't you find her Ki?"  
  
Vegeta growled softly in irritation. "Puar is a shapeshifter. She changes form. Because of this her Ki signature fluctuates."  
  
"Do you mean her power levels change? That shouldn't matter."  
  
"Her power levels change but that's not all." Vegeta reached into Bulma's toolbox and pulled out three different sized spanners. "Imagine this spanner is Gohan." He dropped the smallest spanner on the floor. "This is him as he normally is. The next spanner is Gohan when he is a super sayian." The middle sized spanner fell next to the first. "And the last one is Gohan in SS2." The last spanner made a heavy thunk when it was dropped with the others. "These tools have different power levels, or in this case, sizes. They are still the same thing. They are Gohan, or spanners. They have the same Ki signature."  
  
Bulma nodded, still not sure where Vegeta was going with this.  
  
Reaching into the toolbox again, Vegeta brought out a washer, a bolt and a nut. "These are all Puar. The sizes are different, changing the power level. They are also different things. The bolt is Puar in a human form, the nut a dog and the washer a fish. These three forms have different Ki signatures."  
  
Throwing the three items back into the toolbox, he looked directly into Bulma's eyes.  
  
"I cannot tell where Fuzzball is if I cannot find which signature she is using."  
  
"Wait a second, Why don't you lock on to her normal signature. The one she uses in her normal form. You must know that signature at least."  
  
Vegeta tugged on his earlobe again. "I'm trying to explain this as simply as I can. Puar doesn't have a normal Ki signature. Her power levels are steady but she has the same power level as thousands of humans on this planet so I can't trace her that way. Her normal form has a countless amount of Ki signatures. She flickers through all the Ki signatures that she possesses, mixing them around as she goes. She has a different signature from second to second."  
  
Vegeta sighed as the confused look was still across Bulma's face. "The best way I can explain it to you is to think of a river. The water is her Ki. The currents in the river change the position of the water constantly. The river is never exactly the same."  
  
"Well if that's true then why don't you just look for the Ki signature that keeps changing?"  
  
"That would work if she was away from other lifeforms but as I can't find her she's either in a city somewhere or is dead. The Ki signatures of the humans would camouflage her own changing one."  
  
Climbing out of the innards of the giant oven, Bulma grabbed her cellphone and dialled Roshi's place.  
  
"We're just going to have to look for her manually then."  
  
Someone picked up the other end of the line and they had a brief conversation, ending with an agreement that the search party would be based at Capsule Corporation.  
  
Walking up to the living quarters, Bulma looked across at Vegeta. As soon as he heard the decision that the operation would be based at the CC building, a cold sneer had fallen onto his proud features.  
  
Okay Vegeta, I won't let them know that you actually care. Bulma laughed to herself despite the seriousness of the situation. I still can't believe the nickname you gave Puar. Fuzzball!  
  
"Hey Vegeta."  
  
"What, woman?"  
  
"This whole shape-shifting thing. Does it apply to all shapeshifters?"  
  
"No. Freiza was a shapeshifter and his Ki signature didn't change. It's probably a defence mechanism in Fuzzball's race." Yet again, Vegeta's frown lines deepened.  
  
What the hell was Fuzzball's species anyway?  
  
*&^%$#@*&^%$#@*&^%$#@*&^%$#@ Reader Reviews:  
  
Martial Arts Master- Yay! First reveiwer! I can totally see Yamcha with a drinking problem. I mean, he's gone from being a big scary bandit who can take on anyone to being outdone by little kids. (seriously, that's gotta be degrading even if the kids happen to be half sayian.) That's a huge blow to his ego. The main question is though, Are the Z fighters and Co. Yamcha's friends or are they really Puar's?  
  
Dark Evrae and EvilFives555555- thankyou!  
  
Electro Nemesis- Thanks for your opinion! All the references to Puar that I could find were as a 'she' or an 'it' so I'm making Puar a 'she'. Also you put it that he originally intended Puar to be male. The words 'originally intended' implies that Puar was suposed to be, but is now not, a male.  
  
parrakarry123- I'll try to update more often. I hate it when people forget my birthday! (In actual fact, I'm the one who forgets my birthday the most. I have to think very hard to work out that I'm 16) 


	4. More tests

Disclaimer: I don't own it.  
  
Why yes, it did take me a long time to update.....a VERY long time. My bad. I'm in my final year of school and I don't have much free time. Still, that doesn't give me the right to be a nasty piece of work so I'm sorry for taking so long. (Well, technically I don't HAVE to update, I just feel rude for not doing so.)  
  
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"... due to fluctuations....DNA structure......blood samples... the creature appears to be a female of unknown origin. More tests will be needed. I would suggest exposure to high levels of radiation. Of course I would need your approval." The Doctor droned on and on, which may explain why Private Bury had managed to fall asleep against his beloved monitor.  
  
Doctor Goodwinkle had been put in charge of examining the subject. Since the capture of the creature late Wednesday night, he had only been allowed to take a blood sample and observe the strange blue-furred beast. Yet in the following two days he had somehow managed to collect enough information that it enabled him to educate the General on the nature of the creature for over an hour. The mention of needing permission to do something roused General Cadd from his techno-babble induced stupor.  
  
"More tests..... hmmmm... yes! Permission granted. A good dose of radiation will certainly tell us more about the subject." he proclaimed, not letting the doctor know that he had no idea what exposure to radiation could possibly tell them about the beast. It was just something that Doctor Goodwinkle did. According to Doctor Goodwinkle, very important information could be found by exposing organisms to radiation. Namely whether they have resistance to it or not. Unfortunately the latter tended to die painful deaths but it is all in the interest of science so that cannot be held against the good doctor.  
  
Now that he had received the General's approval for radiation testing, Dr Goodwinkle retreated into the bowels of the Closet, back to his newest test subject.  
  
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_white...white....white....white...  
_  
If she wasn't so tired, hungry and scared, Puar would of been bored with her surroundings as she huddled in a corner. It was a completely white room. The floor, walls and ceiling were all covered in white tiles. She had no idea how they got her into the room in the first place. The last thing she could remember was a net being thrown over her, a sharp pain, perhaps a needle, then darkness.  
  
_Even the frickin' grout is white..... someone call an interior decorator, it's an emergency...  
_  
Suddenly there was a humming noise and a funny feeling came over the tiny blue feline. A sort of fuzzy feeling. At first it wasn't uncomfortable, it was just there, but then it started to get to her. It was like when Yamcha was bored and would whistle. At first you can ignore it but he would keep whistling for hours on end and she would start to want to hurt him....severely.  
  
The feeling became more and more painful until she could take it no more. She let out an unbelievably high-pitched scream. The scream was so high- pitched that it did not break glass or cause dogs to bark. Oh no, this scream was so high-pitched that even Vegeta and Piccolo, the two beings with the best hearing on the planet couldn't register it. -Goku's hearing had been permanently damaged by Chichi's yelling so he had no chance in Hell of hearing Puar's scream.- Something heard it however, and that something just so happened to be a spaceship travelling past Pluto at an outrageous speed. The creatures inside the spaceship were just 'in the neighbourhood' and did not expect to make a detour in their journey but there was something special about that scream. You see, the only other creatures in the universe that are physically capable of creating such a scream were aboard that very ship and they were intensely interested in how one of their own had ended up on a insignificant speck of a planet in the far reaches of the galaxy. Now it seems as though they have decided to make a little pitstop.  
  
!#$%&%$#!  
  
The search party was based at Capsule Corporation but as far as search parties go, this one wasn't very impressive. The only people who had bothered to show up were Master Roshi, Krillin, 18 and Marron. Tein and Chowtzu were off training somewhere and Goten and Trunks were undergoing punishment for breaking an artefact of extreme importance in the Lookout, being locked in a room with a minimal amount of food for the next three weeks. Piccolo would of come if he knew what was going on but as he doesn't have a phone-line in his current residence, -the cave next to his waterfall- so he just thought that the owner's of the gathering ki's were having a picnic or some other strange human ceremony. Chichi didn't believe that Puar was in any danger so she forbid Bulma from removing Gohan from school to go on a "ridiculous goose chase" and Goku.... well Goku had been contacted by King Kai about a tournament in the underworld that he had qualified for as he had spent a substantial amount of time being dead. Goku decided that he just had to compete so he was off training with the Kais. He hasn't visited Chichi, Goten or Gohan and even Vegeta was, for lack of a better term, being neglected. The others.... well, who knows? Because Bulma's parents were off on vacation, 18 was to remain at Capsule corps to watch over Marron. Master Roshi was also staying behind at Bulma's but because he is Master Roshi, 18 and Krillian didn't want to leave their daughter solely in his care. This left a pitifully small group to do the actual searching. Three people to be exact. Bulma, Krillin and Vegeta.  
  
"Right, it looks like this will have to do." sighed Bulma, as a stress- related frown creased her forehead. "Krillin, you and I will cover West City and Vegeta, you can search Satan City."  
  
The three searchers were currently in Capsule Corporation's front lobby, Bulma and Krillin both studying a map of the continent and Vegeta leaning against a convenient doorframe. The receptionist and other workers who were using the lobby at the time steered clear of the three obviously- important people as they went about their work, accustomed to the strange antics of the company's president and her associates. _Especially_ her partner, the pointy-haired man. They avoided him like the plague.  
  
"Although it's most likely that Puar is still in Satan City, both Krillin and I will cover here first. Then we'll meet you over in Satan City if we don't find her here." Bulma further explained, "Okay Vegeta?" The prince shrugged in acceptance before skyrocketing out of an open window in the direction of his destination. "Aw man, this is gonna be like looking for a needle in a haystack." muttered Krillin as he began an aerial search of the city before joining Bulma amongst the swirling crowds of the city streets.  
  
!#$$%&&%$#  
  
This is impossible! There's no way I can find Furball like this. Vegeta hovered above the streets of Satan City. He had been searching for the past hour and it had become evident that there was more chance of Piccolo developing a fetish for tutus than of actually finding Puar. _Fucking Ki signatures. Stupid fucking Puar too. Ooh yes, I have a Ki signature that feels like a big crowd of people just to piss Vegeta off. La- de-fucking-dar..... Hey wait a second...._ Vegeta could feel a large group of people below him in a part of the city but when he looked down, noone was there. A self-satisfied smirk spread across his face. He had found his target. 


End file.
